New owner trying to catch escapee

Nicola · Post by **Nicola** » Sat May 03, 2008 10:49 pm

Hi, I bought a Zebra finch yesterday and whist cleaning his cage this morning he escaped into my room which is quite large and has a very high roof, he is currently sitting on top of the curtain rail which i cannot reach.

I have closed the curtains so he doesn't fly into the window and have covered all the mirrors. I have tried to catch him using the lights out and towel method (as I do not have a net yet) this doesn't seem to be working though, any other tips?? I'm trying not to stress him out...so only attempting to catch him for a short time and then leaving him.

I left his cage open with food in it, any chance he will head back in there when he is hungry?

Sorry this does appear to be a popular topic.

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Sat May 03, 2008 11:32 pm

Hi, Welcome to the forum
as far as i can tell your doing everything right.
He should be hungry by now an start looking for food.
Place the food away from the open part of the cage so when he comes to eat you can close the door quickly.
i'm new with finches an had to catch my male zebra the day i got him.
When i had to reach into the little box they came in an got ahold of him,
but did not have a good grip on him afraid of squshing it, he just flew off,
i let him settle down a bit on top of my curtains then nudged him onto a long perch an slowly moved him down to me to grab him very quickly

an in the cage he went.
I never want to go thru that ever again.

Good Luck, I'm sure others with more help on here can help you out better
this is a great place with many friendly people that know very much.

Post by **Sally** » Sun May 04, 2008 1:51 am

Welcome to the forum! I've had escapees return to their cage when they get hungry. But be sure and get yourself two nets, one with a long handle for escapees, and one with a short handle for catching inside the cage.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sun May 04, 2008 7:49 am

and dont forget to make a movie of your efforts to catch the little brat, we've all been through it and could all do with a laugh. never fun when it happens but shortly after it is

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:19 am

Good luck and please keep us posted. I had to catch 4 juveniles from my aviary yesterday and I had been dreading it for two weeks. I have a large net, but all the other birds just go crazy when I have to do that. I tried my little trap cage, but they would not go in... so..... off we went.

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:31 am

Laughing, It was a Hoot watching the girl catching my 2 z's at Petsmart when i bought them, took her 45 mins to get them.
All the while i'm thinking

hummmm, Do i dare ask, OK whats the easy way to get them in the cage at home? I did not see a place on the little box to maybe open an let the birds go into the cage by themselves,
you know like maybe a little trap door

So i went ahead an asked

knowing all along what she was going to say, of course She looked at me an smiled

an said, You stick your hand into the top an grab the little buggers, she said (dont worry, they dont bite) I was just worried that i would hurt them.
So home i go, open the top very gently an grabbing one an put it into the cage (was not as easy as it sounds) OK so now the female was in the cage,
Next up is the male, he did not want to go without a fight, finaly grabbing him very gently out of the box he took off flying, guess i had a loose grip
Took me 1 hour to get him settled to a point where he would rest a bit from flying around, his little chest was pumping very fast,
At last i got ahold of him an in the cage he went $\:D/$
By this time now my chest was pumping really fast

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:08 am

If you transport them in those little cardboard boxes...which I hate...Why don't you loosen the opening then put the whole box in the cage.It's a miracle your birds don't die of stress with all the panic catching and releasing them.I've had a Gouldian and a Hecks finch both die in my hand of heart failure after I have caught them up, and that was when they were caught quickly.
Paul.

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:34 am

poohbear wrote:If you transport them in those little cardboard boxes...which I hate...Why don't you loosen the opening then put the whole box in the cage.It's a miracle your birds don't die of stress with all the panic catching and releasing them.I've had a Gouldian and a Hecks finch both die in my hand of heart failure after I have caught them up, and that was when they were caught quickly.
Paul.

My cage doors are way to small for the boxes

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:31 am

my birds came in one like this, The large one.
If they were placed in the smaller ones, maybe one per box, then maybe i could have got the small box inside the cage door.

Next time IF ever, i will ask for them to be placed inside one of the smaller boxes

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poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:00 pm

Give you a tip....and don't laugh.
Get a pair of tights...cut a foot off...Now stretch the body over the box covering it completely.Put your hand down the leg and open the box...which you can see easily...Open the box and catch the bird up.If it slips past your hand it's in the body of the tights and can't escape.
That's how we do it at bird shows so the birds can't escape into the rafters of the show hall.
Loads of blokes all with tights in their pockets

Kinky

Some ladies tights will go over the BIGGEST box

Paul.

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:10 pm

poohbear wrote:Give you a tip....and don't laugh.
Get a pair of tights...cut a foot off...Now stretch the body over the box covering it completely.Put your hand down the leg and open the box...which you can see easily...Open the box and catch the bird up.If it slips past your hand it's in the body of the tights and can't escape.
That's how we do it at bird shows so the birds can't escape into the rafters of the show hall.
Loads of blokes all with tights in their pockets Kinky

Some ladies tights will go over the BIGGEST box
Paul.

WOW, Thanks Paul

Thats Just GREAT, i knew somebody had to have a trick for that.
That should make it easy on everybody here.
Thank You Much

$\:D/$

livinonaprayer · Post by **livinonaprayer** » Mon May 05, 2008 2:54 pm

poohbear wrote:Give you a tip....and don't laugh.
Get a pair of tights...cut a foot off...Now stretch the body over the box covering it completely.Put your hand down the leg and open the box...which you can see easily...Open the box and catch the bird up.If it slips past your hand it's in the body of the tights and can't escape.
That's how we do it at bird shows so the birds can't escape into the rafters of the show hall.
Loads of blokes all with tights in their pockets Kinky

Some ladies tights will go over the BIGGEST box
Paul.

Sorry, I did laugh. I had a vision of guys buying tights in a store. I like how you said "some ladies tights will go over the BIGGEST box". Very tactful indeed.

Well...nevermind.
But that is such a great idea.
I can see how Bonzo's bird got away. That is a big box.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Mon May 05, 2008 3:34 pm

With some ladies in the UK and the USA nowadays, the tights method could be used when clearing an aviary...

Bonzo · Post by **Bonzo** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:29 pm

Whats the best color so you can see thru as to what you are doing

I only have white right now onhand

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:42 pm

Sorry gave up looking at womens legs years ago...they all look the same to me...transparent.
Paul.